Flood
Albert Abramovitz American
Published by WPA
Abramovitz often featured skeletons and skulls in his prints made after the Great Depression (1929–39), when the United States experienced several catastrophic floods, such as the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the northeastern flood of 1936, and the Los Angeles flood of 1938. Amid these calamities, flooding occupied the minds of residents nationwide, and Abramovitz dedicated more than one work to the subject. In this wood engraving, the artist depicted the flooded interior of a house. Three lifeless bodies float in the water alongside pieces of furniture that once adorned the residence. A skeleton dominates the center of the composition, symbolizing the resultant death and destruction.
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